UPA failed to defend itself from scam allegations, says Patel

Nagpur: The Congress-led UPA government failed to defend itself from allegations about scams like 2G and Coalgate, which should have been handled in a proper manner, senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Union Minister for Heavy Industries Praful Patel said on Monday.

"Our government failed to defend itself from allegations in 2G and Coalgate scams," Patel told reporters in Chikkhla village near Tumsar in Gondia district, on Monday.

He was in Chikhala to inaugurate a public school in started by the public sector Manganese Ore India India Ltd (MOIL). Patel said that there would be no effect on the Congress-NCP alliance due to the Adarsh Housing Society report,which was tabled in the Maharashtra assembly.

"I have not seen the report," Patel said, adding that the Maharashtra has to decide whether the report should be accepted or rejected.

Patel said that the Judicial Commission has mentioned that the Adarsh Housing Society land belonged to the Maharashtra Government and not to the Union Defence Ministry or was reserved for the personnel of Kargil martyrs.

Moreover, since the Maharashtra Governor has refused permission to prosecute former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, there must be some basis for it, Patel said.

Talking about BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's campaign, Patel said one factor (Modi) is not applicable all over the country.

If that is the BJP's claim, why could it not win a majority on its own in Delhi and won only by a slender margin in Chhattisgarh, he said, adding that the BJP had no presence in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Orissa, Bengal and entire North Eastern India, he said.

He said that the Congress-NCP alliance would fight the 2014 general elections together.